Gillim Grills ‘Em in Utah

TOOELE, UTAH, MAY 27 – Road Race Factory’s Hayden Gillim (Yam) sped from the pole position to a dominant first victory of the year in the Supersport West race at Miller Motorsports Park.

It took the rider from Owensboro, Kentucky three laps to get into the lead, but once there he was untouchable. His first lap out front ended with a cushion of 1.309 secs. which he extended to over four seconds. Over the final two laps his lead evaporated, but he was still able to win comfortably by 1.062 secs. Riders Discount/Vesrah Suzuki’s Jake Lewis won a spirited battle for second over Latus Motors Racing’s Dustin Dominguez (Tri), who finished third.

Series points leader James Rispoli (Celtic Racing/Orient Express Racing Suzuki) started strongly, leading the first lap, but faded badly to finish a distant eighth. Still, he ended the day in control of the Supersport West championship with 145 points to 124 for Gillim.

The win was the second of Hayden’s Supersport career; he won his first Supersport race in the East division at Mid-Ohio last year.

The battle for second was fiercely but cleanly fought among Lewis, Dominguez, and Tomas Puerta, who would fade to a distant fourth on the American Supercamp/Road Race Factory Yamaha. Dominguez began the final lap in second, with Lewis passing him into the first turn, then pulling away mid-lap, especially through the fast right hand Witchcraft. Lewis could see Gillim just ahead, but with the finish line so close to the final corner-one of the track’s main flaws-there was no chance for a draft-pass.

Stefano Mesa (Kneedraggers.com Yamaha) was alone in fifth well in front of Tyler Linders (Nexx Yamaha). Then came Myers, with Rispoli close behind in eighth.

Supersport West Results:

1. Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)

2. Jake Lewis (Suzuki)

3. Dustin Dominguez (Triumph)

4. Tomas Puerta (Yamaha)

5. Stefano Mesa (Yamaha)

6. Tyler Linders (Yamaha)

7. Elena Myers (Suzuki)

8. James Rispoli (Suzuki)

9. Ryan Matter (Yamaha)

10. Sebastiao Ferreira (Yamaha)

Henny Ray Abrams | Contributing Editor

Abrams is the longest-serving contributor at Cycle News. Over the course of his 35-some years of writing and shooting photos, he’s covered events from MotoGP to the Motocross World Championship - and everything in between.